Dear Supporters,

 

I am Ibrahim, a Milaap Open Fellow. I recently went to the Deonar Municipal School where Manisha used to teach as part of her TFI fellowship. I met the young kids who were practicing to participate in the ‘Just for Kicks’ tournament. Seven of the total team of ten kids were present there - Rohit, Shehnawaaz, Mahesh, Ishtiyaar, Arif, Kuwarjeet, and the newly joined goalkeeper, Rahil.

 

Their passion for this sport needs to be appreciated considering the challenges they have to face.  Arif, the captain of the boys’ team says, “Everyone plays cricket here, and they’re from nearby colonies, so they bully us many times and don’t let us play.” In such situations, they resort to playing on the concrete path inside the school compound, instead of the ground. “When one falls on this ground, the bruises and scrapes are very bad,” says Arif. Even the ground is in poor  condition. The kids themselves removed the big stones from the ground to make it suitable  for playing football. Moreover, the municipality had dumped waste from the neighbouring nalla and it had been lying there for a week now.

 

Their problems did not end there. Most of the boys’ parents were unsupportive towards their endeavour. “They consider this a waste of time, and believe we should either focus on our studies instead or go work somewhere,” admits Ishtiyaar. The situation is worse for some girls whose parents detest the game, more so, because of the shorts they have to wear to play/participate. The parents want to pull them back from these sports, but the kids are extremely  motivated to not give up  and perform their best.  “Sometimes we’re able to convince them to let us go, but more often than not, we have to lie to play,” Arif admits sheepishly.

 

The local club they’re training with charges a discounted fee of Rs. 100 per month from the kids to coach them. Besides, there is a Rs. 500 fee for participation in the ‘Just for Kick’s tournament. Since the parents do not support them, mostly, they work odd jobs to support these costs. Like Arif works part-time stitching bags. The funds collected are being used to support the girls’ team, who are not allowed to do such jobs, and to buy football kits for the kids.

 

Manisha believes that sports are extremely important for physical fitness and sharpness of mind. The values and skillset that get imbibed while practicing sports cannot be taught in classrooms. “I myself never had the opportunity to partake in any kind of sports because of lack of opportunities and infrastructure, and so, realise the value it holds,” admits Manisha. This effort to get the kids involved in football has had multifold benefits. The parents of these kids from slums did not pay much attention to their child’s diet and nutritional needs . “I found out that Ishtiyaar just had chai and paav for lunch. Some other kids too had such similar unbalanced diets. I made a rule that if they wanted to play after class, they had to eat their mid-day meals properly and regularly,” says Manisha. This soon turned into a practice and the kids themselves started paying attention to their health. 

Football also helped increase their attendance and concentration in class. The kids who skipped classes unnecessarily during the week were not allowed to attend the practice at weekends.

 

After being runner-ups in the previous tournament, the boys and girls are all geared up to ace this year’s ‘Just for Kicks’ tournament. “We’ve watched a lot of videos of Messi and Ronaldo and we try to copy them”, says Mahesh. They all want to become professional footballers when they grow up, but, of course, not at the cost of  their education. They are hard-working and determined. We, at  Milaap, wish them all the best for this tournament and their future.